Starting this month I am adding a monthly post about six things that are currently on my mind. They can be things I have, things I wish to have or just something I currently find interesting.

As my blog generally focuses on perfume bottles I have collected, I rarely get to write about a number of samples that come to me by one means or another. My Monthly Six gives me a place to talk about some of the perfumes or objects I may not end up collecting, but nonetheless they have my attention.

So here goes, my first six, for December 2012:

December Six 2012

1: Quintessentially Perfume

This is the book I am currently reading and it comes from a line of books Quintessentially Publishing LTD have published on a range of topics linked to lifestyle, fashion and art. Their next publication will be called Q Gentlemen, which is a luxury guidebook for the sartorially elegant man. Quintessentially Perfume contains a superb foreword written by Roja Dove and chapters dedicated to the history of perfume, creative milestones, current trends and candid discussions with many of the world’s most influential men and women in perfume today. It makes excellent summer reading for any perfume lover.

Brittany in the north of France is not an area many would associate with perfume making. But it is here in the resort town of Dinard, creator of Divine, Yvon Mouchel settled in the mid 1980s to create his brand. It began with a chypre perfume for women simply called Divine and has since grown over the past decade into a portfolio of more than eight perfumes for men and women. The house’s latest offering is the masculine L’Homme Infini, which sees perfumer Yann Vasnier return to Divine. The ISIPCA graduate has experienced success with perfumes for Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford and niche house Arquiste. L’Homme Infini is a modern masculine, and although this type of men’s fragrance is growing in popularity after the success of Terre d’Hermes and the trailing Voyage d’Hermes, L’Homme Infini proves it can hold its own ground staking its claim on a beautifully polished oak slab. Resinous elemi and spicy black pepper come first in the composition. This heavy oak wood note in the middle of the perfume is seated alongside cedar, vetiver and traces of oud. The base is balanced with warmer tones of amber and velvety musk. A press pack turned up on my desk recently and I have been sharing samples with work colleagues and friends who all are very fond of L’Homme Infini. I want to give one Australian Facebook follower a chance to share some samples amongst their own friends so read on if this fragrance sounds appealing to you.

James Heeley is another perfumer I highly regard. Sel Marin is the perfect men’s fragrance coming into the Australian summer. Filled with sun, salt and sea air, Sel Marin is a clever layering of citrus, moss, algae and synthetic notes that creates an olfactory snapshot of a summer’s day at the beach. Like L’Homme Infini, it is another courageously creative yet highly wearable men’s fragrance.

Last month in Hong Kong I visited Joyce department store near Landmark. Apparently I missed Frederic Malle by a week but he did not leave without a parting gift for his Cantonese devotees; his latest tuberose candle created by perfumer Dominique Rupion. Carnal Flower is another of Rupion’s creations for Frederic Malle and his research into the odour of tuberose flowers was revisited in order to create this new environmental scent. It features the same tuberose absolute sourced for Carnal Flower. Frederic Malle’s website suggests viewers can appreciate this candle as Carnal Flower without the connecting piece that makes it mingle with skin. Diptyque has been my preferred tuberose candle for nearly 10 years so I am looking forward to burning this new edition over the holiday season. Isn’t New Years the best time to implement change?

Before beginning Quintessentially Perfume I finished reading Jean-Claude Ellena’s Diary of a Nose. His writings made me dig out the sample of Santal Massoïa I had received with a perfume purchase at Hermes earlier in the year. True to Jean-Claude Ellena’s form I am finding new aspects to appreciate in this most recent addition to the Hermessence collection. I sat on a sample of Poivre Samarcande for 5 years before I felt a connection to it enough to buy a bottle. Now it is one of my favourite summer perfumes. Santal Massoïa is another complex affair, for me it comes filled with malt and suede. I am still in the process of understanding my feelings for it, but I am enjoying the journey of discovery.

A recent trip to the Chanel Beauty store revealed a new product linked to Les Exclusifs de Chanel. Not a new fragrance (1932 will launch in 2013) but a perfumed body product compatible with the entire line of Les Exclusifs. The cream itself is fantastic; it feels great and absorbs into skin without feeling overly oily. Chanel describes it as a “delicate touch of a floral and musky whisper in perfect harmony with each fragrance in the Les Exclusifs de Chanel collection.” It is a understated scent of sparkling gardenia, a Chanel signature and crystalline white musk. The scent is so refined I am not sure how valuable it would be beneath some of the heavier Les Exclusifs such as Sycomore or Coromandel; I see it paring nicely with Chanel’s Eau de Cologne or Bel Respiro.

Due to the difficulty of shipping perfume outside Australia, the winner needs to have an Australian address I can post to. If the winner has not completed step 1 and 2 and/or does not have an Australian postal address, sorry, I will need to draw another name.

The winning name will be posted here and on Facebook as a comment. The winner has 7 days to come forward and claim their prize otherwise a redraw will occur. Hopefully I can find a good home for these samples before Christmas!

Thanks : ) I should have thought of this earlier. There is so much I plan to write but put off due to time constraints with work and life etc. This is a fast way to write about things that are currently on my mind…